life is sweet • life is colorful — Nikki Rappaport

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Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Is it Christmas yet? I just can’t wait to be home in New Jersey with my whole family. Christmas for us absolutely revolves around the food – and I’m looking forward to sharing with you our fantastic spread for Christmas Eve. But something that’s maybe even better than our big Christmas Eve dinner is what we Christmas morning. Mostly it’s leftovers – meatballs, antipasti, great cheeses – incorporated into my dad’s eggs. Often it’s just leftover chocolate bourbon pound cake and mimosas. Sometimes we think a little further ahead and soak blueberry french toast over night to bake in the morning. Just thinking about all these things makes me feel warm and fuzzy and full of love for my awesome family.

My point is (besides bragging about my great Christmas food), whatever you eat on Christmas morning (or any morning you share with loved ones) make it something special. Since this whole cupcake for breakfast thing is catching on (seriously, keep sending me your photos–I love it!) I made a cupcake specifically for Christmas morning.

This cinnamon roll cupcake has a simple vanilla base, with a cinnamon, pecan, brown sugar filling. The tops are brushed in strong coffee and they’re lightly iced in a sweet vanilla cream cheese icing. They might just possibly make an appearance at our Christmas morning table too.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar until light an fluffy (about two minutes), scraping down the sides occasionally. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each one. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour and mix mixtures to butter mixture, beating on low speed just until combined.

Spoon about a tablespoon of the batter into each cup. Sprinkle the cinnamon mix on top of the batter. And then spoon the remaining batter on top.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when stuck inside. Cool cupcakes on a wire baking rack.

Coffee Glaze and Cream Cheese Frosting

Make about a cup of really strong coffee and let cool. With a kitchen brush, brush cupcake tops with coffee a few times, allowing the coffee to soak in between brushings.

1 8 oz-package cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 cups confectioners sugar

Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla extract.

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11 thoughts on “Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes”

These sound delicious, and your Christmas spread must be awesome! We make cinnamon rolls and their fabulous cousins, orange rolls, every Christmas morning after we’ve opened gifts — and everyone crowds around to watch the 24 hours of “A Christmas Story” on TBS. It just stays on all day!